More than 40 hours after his climb, a man remains on top of a radio broadcast tower on American University’s campus in Northwest D.C.
As of Thursday morning, D.C. police said officers are still working to “resolve” the incident and asked that people continue to avoid the area.
The situation began after police made contact with the man who had called 911 at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
At the time, campus police evacuated the south side of the campus, and put all buildings within the area under a shelter in place order.
The man has yet to be publicly identified.
In a letter to the university’s community Wednesday morning, Vice President Bronté Burleigh-Jones said the man remains on the tower and the response activity remains ongoing at the site.
“In MPD’s assessment, the individual does not pose a risk to the community or campus safety,” Burleigh-Jones said. “MPD remains on scene with AUPD and continues to engage with the individual and seek to conclude the situation.”
D.C. police tell WTOP that no roads have been affected, with the situation confined to the area surrounding the broadcast tower.
The university will maintain normal campus operations Wednesday, with buildings and offices open. Everyone is asked to avoid the area around the broadcast tower until further instructions are provided, Burleigh-Jones said.
The tower supports the main broadcast antenna of WTOP-FM and WAMU-FM, among several other broadcasters and cellular companies.
WAMU said in a statement that its “radio signal was briefly affected,” and that it’s since “powered down the tower” to support the ongoing police investigation.
The station maintains a backup broadcasting arrangement in Virginia, it added.
Similarly, WTOP is operating from a backup facility in neighboring Maryland.
WTOP has been told that the person is situated on a platform part of the way up the tower, and has a backpack. Emergency officials said they’re taking a careful approach as they assess the situation.
WTOP’s Alicia Abelson contributed to this report.
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